Instead I'm Just Invisble
by mybarricadeboys1
Summary: Pavel's got a crush on Jim's new girlfriend, making his best friend feel even more invisible. If he such a genius, why can't he see how she feels? With this love triangle and all those teenage hormones, chaos is bound to ensue. Chekov X OC fluff, cause reasons
1. Chapter 1

Captain James T. Kirk had his eye on Iris Fay since she walked onto the Bridge on the first day of the U.S.S. Enterprise's five year mission. She walked with a slight swagger, swishing her long, wavy golden – brown hair over one shoulder as she batted her melted-chocolate eyes at the handsome captain.

"Hi there," he said casually, none too subtly looking her up and down. "You must be Lieutenant Fay."

"Yes, sir," she said with a stunning smile, flashing her even white teeth.

"Great...you're over there then, I guess," Jim smiled back, gesturing to the console to the left of him. "Right next to me."

"That's seems about right, sir," she replied as she glanced around the Bridge. Spotting Lieutenant Uhura rolling her eyes at her, she mouthed; "What!?"

"You're as bad as each other," Uhura mouthed back. Giggling and shaking her head, she smiled at the navigators at the helm.

"Hi, I'm Iris – Iris Fay."

"Oh, hey, I'm Hikaru Sulu and this is Pavel Chekov. Nice to meet you."

"You too," said Iris, blissfully unaware of the affect her presence was having on the Enterprise's very own Russian whiz kid, eighteen year old Pavel. He gulped as he glanced into her big brown eyes and she gave him a smile, blushing bright red and tugging nervously on his light brown curls as he glued his eyes to the console in front of him.

"You OK, kid?" asked Sulu.

"Uh-uh," said Pavel in a strangled voice, still with his eyes fixed on the console. _Oh, wow,_ he thought desperately, _she's just so...so...she's..._

"Beautiful," he whispered out loud.

"What?" said Sulu, giving him a strange look.

"Um, n-nozing..."

"OK...if you're sure...you're looking a little red..."

"Am I?" said Pavel in a distracted voice, thinking about the way the light brought out the gold in Iris' brunette hair, and the freckles on her nose, and her pretty tan, and the flecks of green in her brown eyes...

"Chekov? Chekov? Pay attention, kid..." Sulu was waving his hand in front of Pavel's face.

"V-vhat?"

"Captain wants us to set a course for Ceti Alpha V."

"Oh...oh, OK."

"OK, great. You _sure _you're OK? You seem distracted."

"Oh, I'm fine..."

Jim and Iris soon had a relationship going, much to the exasperation of Iris' friend, Nyota Uhura.

"It's never going to last, Iris. He's a player," she sighed as she picked at her food, glaring at Iris over the table.

"So? I don't expect it to last; you know how my relationships go."

"Yeah, and I'm always left to clean up the mess. You and Kirk are a disaster waiting to happen."

"I know, I know, but...he's really something, y'know?"

"No! I do not! And I don't want to know!" Groaning, Nyota picked up her tray and flounced off, presumably to find her Vulcan boyfriend. Iris rolled her eyes. "Drama queen."

"Hi, do you mind if we sit here?"

Iris looked up to see Sulu, Chekov, a young blonde girl in Medical blue and an Engineer she didn't know standing at her table.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Iris, this is Nurse Hamilton –"

"Lily, Sulu!" said the blonde girl. "Or Lillian, at least."

"Whoops, sorry, Lil. And this is Montgomery – sorry, Scotty."

"No problem," said the Engineer in a Scottish accent, "This young lady can call me Monty if she likes." He winked as Iris giggled and Lily rolled her eyes. "Back off, Scotty, your making the whiz kid uncomfortable," she said, nodding at Chekov, whose face matched Scotty's uniform.

Iris sat back and let the easy banter and laughter of the group wash over her, occasionally making a comment. Suddenly, she spotted Jim beckon her from across the mess hall.

"Sorry, guys – gotta go." She jumped up, not spotting Chekov's face crumple with disappointment. Or the way Nurse Hamilton's eyes flashed with hurt when she noticed the way he gazed longingly after the attractive, older Lieutenant.

Pavel picked miserably at his food for the rest of the meal, wondering why Iris left so suddenly. Was he being awkward? Did he insult her by accident?

Lily leaned over to him. "Are you OK, dude? Sulu said you'd been acting a little weird. Are you feeling ill?"

"No," he said miserably, "I'm...I'm fine. Just not hungry." Abruptly, he stood up and rushed back his quarters, leaving Lily staring after him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys! I shouldn't really be writing this as I haven't finished the last two fics but the plot bunnies have struck . Oh well. This chapter is kind of bad and cheesy...but maybe a little cheesy is good sometimes. Also, can I just say that writing Chekov's accent makes me physically exhausted. xD Enjoy reading and write lots of reviews so I know how I'm doing **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Star Trek or any of the characters I'd be a very happy girl. Unfortunately, I don't.**

Lily curled up miserably on her bed, reaching for her hoodie and pulling it on. Wrapping the warm, faded grey fabric around her and breathing the familiar scent in deeply, she tried her hardest to stop the tears from falling as Pavel's hurt, disappointed face swam in front of her eyes. What was so special about that girl anyway? He barely knew her. He'd been friends with Lily for over a year. She shuffled under the duvet and called out; "Lights."

"Lights off," said the ship computer as the lights dimmed. Lily shoved her headphones in her ears and let the music wash over her.

Of course, she knew what was special about Iris Fay. She was gorgeous, thinner, more graceful and more glamorous than Lily ever would be. But the whole ship knew – or guessed – that she was with Captain Kirk. Everyone but Pavel, it seemed.

Lily had had a crush on the cute Russian navigator ever since she'd met him, but had successfully kept it quiet. She had tried to pluck up the courage to tell him often, but the fear that he didn't like her that way, that it would ruin their friendship, had always crept in. She would look into that sweet face, his green – grey eyes...and crumple. She couldn't say anything; watch the happy smile slide off his face as he tried to find the words to tell her, kindly, that he didn't feel the same...

Lily felt something wet on her face and realised she was crying.

Meanwhile, Pavel paced up and down in his room, trying to work out how he could make it up to Iris. Surely there was some way he could impress her...but he had no idea what she liked, or, since they were currently floating in space, how he could get it. Damn. He flopped down on his bed, his genius brain working over-time. How come, when it came to equations and calculations, his brain was more than adequate; but when it came to girls, it just went into meltdown? He needed someone to ask, a second opinion...someone who wouldn't laugh at him, who understood him.

The answer came to him instantly: Lily. His best friend had always been able to read him, she understood him better than anyone. Jumping up, he asked the computer; "Locate crewmember Hamilton."

The computer flashed up; Lily was in her room.

Pavel slipped out of the door and ran as fast as he could.

Lily heard a knock on her door through the haze of misery and sat up, drying her eyes, shoving her iPod under her pillow, flinging her grey hoodie away and turning the lights on. A voice called through the door. "Lily? Eet's Pavel. Can I come in?"

Jumping off the bed, Lily ran to the bathroom calling; "One second!" Splashing water on her swollen, red eyes, she rubbed off the smudged black eye makeup that ringed her blue eyes. Then she straightened her Medical blue dress, dragged a brush through her tangled blonde hair, and ran to the door, punching in the lock code. The door slid open to reveal Pavel, looking adorable as ever with his soft brown curls mussed up, gazing at her with hopeful, puppy-dog eyes.

"Can you help me vith somezing, Lily? I don't know who else to ask..."

Lily's stomach flipped but she ignored it as she always did, standing aside so Pavel could come in. "Sure, what is it?"

"Um...vell...zere is this girl..."

Lily nearly fell over. Could it be that he didn't really like Iris, that really it was Lily that he wanted? Could he really see her that way? Swallowing nervously, she asked, "And you like her? You want to tell her?"

"Yes," said Pavel, nodding enthusiastically, "I knew you'd understand! She ees so pretty...and intimidating..."

Lily felt her stomach drop. She wasn't intimidating, to anyone. At 4 foot 2 inches exactly, bubbly, blonde and nearly always singing as she worked, Lily was everyone's friend. Unlike tall, supermodel thin Iris.

"Do you want to tell me who it is? Maybe we can think of some way to tell her," Lily smiled even though her heart was breaking. Why did she put herself in these situations? Why did she let herself care so much?

"Um," said Pavel, blushing adorably, looking down at the floor, "Eet's Iris. Lieutenant Fay."

Lily pushed down the feeling of disappointment and nodded. "Oh. Right."

"Vhat? Do you not like her?"

"No, no she's great. Really nice. But...maybe...she's a little.." Lily didn't want to say it, she didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't stand by and see him make a fool of himself...

Pavel looked confused. "Come on Lily, tell me!"

"Isn't she a little too..." she was about to say 'old for you' but Pavel interrupted her.

"You zink she's out of my league?

"No! No! Of course not..."

"You do. You zink just because she's pretty she von't be interested..vell, I'll show you!"

Pavel stormed off. Lily gently hit her head against the wall, groaning. What had she done? Would Pavel ever forgive her?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, gonna wrap this one up and get back to some serious stuff. So this is the last chapter guys – sorree! It kind of sucks anyway, but I think it's cute so I'm finishing it off. This chapter will be short, simple, and sweet... I might write a sequel if I get inspiration, but if that doesn't happen I guess this is it. Have fun reading!**

Lily sat in her room for an hour, worrying. She couldn't go out and face the music – anything could be happening right now. Captain Kirk could have punched Pavel for hitting on his girl. OK, that was unlikely, but you never know.

Slowly, she realised that whatever Pavel had done, it couldn't be that bad. And she could make it up to him, if she tried. The friendship wasn't totally smashed – things like this happened all the time. It was nothing, just a tiny glitch.

Lily got up and marched off to find her AWOL best friend. This wasn't over yet.

She found him sitting miserably in the Engine Room, head in hands. Quietly, she sat down.

"What happened?" she asked him softly.

"I'm an idiot," he muttered despondently.

"No, you're not. Tell me what happened."

He looked up, eyes red from crying. Lily's heart lurched as his eyes began to fill with more tears. "I can't," he said, "Eet's too embarrassing..." He sighed. "She rejected me, obviously." Then he really started to cry.

Lily wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.

"Hey, it's OK," she whispered. "It's fine. It happens all the time. You just misjudged it a bit."

"How could I ever zink she'd be interested in me?"

"I know how. You're sweet, and funny, and clever, and cute. If she can't see that then...then she's the dumbest girl ever to enrol in Starfleet. Ever."

Pavel sniggered. "You really zink that?"

Lily took a deep, shaky breath. "Yeah. I really do think that."

Pavel pulled back from her, eyes focusing on her.

"Lily..."

Lily felt her heart pound. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. No, this was all wrong...he couldn't know, she didn't want him to know, to have to let her down...

She stood up, and ran, as fast as she could.

Scotty found her, eventually, arms wrapped around her knees, hidden amongst the generators.

"You alright?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

Scotty sat down beside her. "Chekov told me what happened."

Lily groaned. "Does he hate me?"

"Naw. You didn't make that much of a fool of yourself. On the grand scale of things. I remember once I nearly ran over this lass I fancied, back home in Scotland. Took me months to talk to her again."

Lily giggled weakly. "You suck at romance."

Scotty chuckled. "True. You're definitely not as bad as me. Actually you did quite well, all things considered. This is turning out a bit like a bad romantic comedy, if you ask me."

"Does he...does he still want to be friends with me?"

Scotty really laughed then. "Ha! Why don't you go ask him yourself! You'll see how much he still wants to be friends...haha. Oh, you kids... Oh, wait. Hey up."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, and looked up. Pavel stood there, looking down at his feet awkwardly.

Scotty cleared his throat and stood up. "I'll just leave you both to it, then," he said, and disappeared.

"Hi," said Lily quietly.

"Hi."

"Um...I'm sorry about running off."

"Eet's OK."

It took Lily a few moments to realise how close they were to each other. Pavel swallowed nervously.

"Pavel..."

"I'm sorry for being so stupid, Lily. I'm meant to be a genius, but...it's so hard to understand you..."

"It's OK."

Pavel nodded, laughing shakily at how she mimicked him.

Grinning nervously, he leaned down and kissed her.

It lasted for about a second, and Lily was a bit disappointed when he pulled away.

"Did I get it wrong?" Pavel asked her, eyebrows pulled together in an apprehensive frown.

"No," she said, grinning as the world seemed to light up around her. "You got it exactly right."


End file.
